Anti-social Behaviour: Loud Music

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have any plans to make it an offence to play loud music in a motor vehicle with the windows open.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Government have no plans to introduce a new offence that specifically outlaws the playing of loud music from open-windowed vehicles. Existing legislation already provides a range of options that enable police forces and local authorities to address this problem. Relevant legislation is as follows:
	Police Reform Act 2002: local police forces may serve anti-social behaviour orders that can impose bans from certain roads, and there are even confiscation powers over vehicle owners in more serious cases.
	The Road Vehicles (Construction and Use) Regulations 1986: Regulation 97 states that,
	"no motor vehicle shall be used on a road in such a manner as to cause any excessive noise which could have been avoided by the exercise of reasonable care on the part of the driver".
	On-road enforcement is by the police.
	Environmental Protection Act 1990: under Section 79, as amended by the Noise and Statutory Nuisance Act 1993, loud music from stationary vehicles may also be defined as a statutory nuisance. Environmental health officers, therefore, have powers to serve abatement notices during these incidents. Failure to comply can lead to fines and confiscation of equipment.
	As set out in Chapter 7 of the Respect Action Plan, the Government are also considering how law enforcement methods for such offences can be improved.

Asylum Seekers: Gender Policy

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	By what means they are ensuring that the gender asylum policy instruction is implemented fully throughout the whole of the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: All caseworkers in the Immigration and Nationality Directorate who are responsible for considering asylum claims are obliged to follow the asylum policy instruction on gender issues. I am satisfied that in most cases the guidance is being followed. I am aware of recent criticism by Asylum Aid that caseworkers do not always apply the gender guidelines correctly. The Home Office is carefully examining the Asylum Aid report and will make changes to the process if it is appropriate to do so. Home Office officials will meet Asylum Aid on 12 May to discuss the report.

Fuel: Red Diesel

Lord Berkeley: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What consultation they undertook, and with whom, before seeking a derogation from the European Commission to allow the continuing use of red diesel for recreational boat and yachting purposes.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Following the 2004 Pre-Budget Report, the Government held extensive informal consultation with stakeholders which led to the publication at the Budget 2006 of the partial regulatory impact assessment (RIA) on the effects of ending the derogation and the decision to apply for renewal. The Government are continuing to discuss the issue with stakeholders with a view to informing the case that is put to the Commission.

House of Lords: Lord Speaker

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: asked the Chairman of Committees:
	Why the voting figures for the election of the Lord Speaker on 28 June will not be disclosed to Members of the House until 4 July, after they have been approved by Her Majesty the Queen.

Lord Brabazon of Tara: The approval by Her Majesty the Queen of the choice of Lord Speaker will, out of courtesy to Her Majesty, be sought before the result is announced.

Incomes

Lord Laird: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is the current average salary or wage in each region of the United Kingdom.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
	Letter to Lord Laird from the National Statistician, dated May 2006.
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question to ask what the current average earnings are in each region of the United Kingdom. (HL5533)
	Average earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for full-time employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. This is the standard definition used for ASHE. The ASHE does not collect data on the self-employed and people who do unpaid work.
	I attach a table showing average gross weekly earnings by government office region for the year 2005 for all full-time employees on adult rates. These statistics are already published on the National Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=13101.
	The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. It is a one per cent sample of all employees who are members of pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) schemes.
	
		Gross weekly(£) pay for full-time employee jobs1 by place of work
		
			  Median Mean 
			 United Kingdom 431 517 
			 North-east 386 452 
			 North-west 407 480 
			 Yorkshire and the 
			 Humber 399 467 
			 East Midlands 407 469 
			 West Midlands 403 476 
			 South-west 401 473 
			 East 429 512 
			 London 556 698 
			 South-east 450 539 
			 Wales 390 454 
			 Scotland 410 480 
			 Northern Ireland 387 452 
		
	
	1 Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
	Guide to quality: the coefficient of variation (CV) indicates the quality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality.
	The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV eg: for an average of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent, we would expect the population average to be within the range 180 to 220.
	All the figures on this table have a CV of less than 5 per cent.
	The median replaces the mean as the headline statistic. The weighted mean is the sum of the weighted values divided by the sum of the weights. The median is the value below which 50 per cent. of employees fall. It is preferred over the mean for earnings data as it is influenced less by extreme values and because of the skewed distribution of earnings data.
	Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

NHS: Funding

Lord McColl of Dulwich: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether the 2.5 per cent levy on underspending National Health Service trusts, designed to support those trusts that have overspent, will impact more on trusts which serve mainly (a) urban, or (b) rural areas; and whether the levies will apply to all trusts that have broken even or made a profit.

Lord Warner: In 2006-07, the priority will be to restore financial balance in the National Health Service. The purpose of strategic health authority (SHA) reserves is to act as a mechanism to help achieve this objective. SHAs have the responsibility to develop and implement a service and financial strategy for managing the financial position within their locality. They will develop this with primary care trusts (PCTs) and NHS trusts in their area. This will include creating local reserves to deal with local problems. The size of the reserves and the contribution from each PCT will vary according to local circumstances, but the underlying principle will be fairness. Where local reserves are established we expect:
	SHAs to maintain the integrity of the allocations system with PCTs entitled to repayment of any contributions over a reasonable period not usually exceeding the three-year allocation cycle, unless otherwise locally agreed;
	SHAs to have full regard to the financial and service position of each organisation in determining how reserves are generated and applied; and
	transparency both in the creation and use of reserves.

Passports

Lord Avebury: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Further to the Written Answer by the Baroness Scotland of Asthal on 6 March (WA 116), whether it is lawful for the United Kingdom Passport Service or a local British consular post to refuse an otherwise valid British passport application because the applicant has refused to return the passport of their second nationality to the appropriate authorities.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Passports are issued under the Royal prerogative at the discretion of the Secretary of State. It is not a requirement that a passport of a second nationality is returned to the appropriate authorities before the issue of a British passport. British consular posts encourage dual nationals to return the passport of their second nationality to the appropriate authorities where this is appropriate.

Passports: Interviews

Lord Crickhowell: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Why no provision has been made in the proposed network of passport interview offices and the remote communication service to cover the needs of mid-Wales and the Welsh Marches.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The needs of mid-Wales and the Welsh Marches are covered by the new IPS interview offices to be located in Wrexham, Shrewsbury, Aberystwyth and Cheltenham (and potentially Warwick and Birmingham), together with the remote communities services planned for Anglesey, north Gwynedd and Pembrokeshire.

People Trafficking: Children

Lord Hylton: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	Whether they have received any evidence on the trafficking of children from the other European Union member states to the United Kingdom and vice versa; and, secondly, within the United Kingdom.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: There have been a number of cases of trafficking from the new EU member states, in particular Lithuania. Some of the victims recovered have been minors. Once trafficked to the UK, such victims will often be moved around and trafficked within the UK. Current intelligence does not suggest that there is a problem of trafficking of minors from the UK to other EU member states.

Police: Reorganisation

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What estimate they have made of the likely change in the police precept to the council tax arising from the possible merger of police forces throughout England and Wales.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: The financial implications of amalgamating different levels of precept remain under consideration. We are presently working on transitional arrangements to allow for convergence of precepts over several years. We are committed to paying 100 per cent of reasonable set-up revenue and capital costs of restructuring, net of reasonable savings. The projected level of these costs and savings is a matter for negotiations currently taking place.

Police: Reorganisation

Lord Hanningfield: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What estimate the Home Office has made of the likely change in the number of police officers and other staff following the completion of its proposed police mergers in each force area.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: Restructuring of the police service is about strengthening policing and ensuring that all police forces across England and Wales have the required capacity, capability and resilience to provide the most effective policing to the communities they serve. The number of police officers and police staff in each strategic force will be a matter for the chief constable and police authority concerned.

Prisons: Young Offenders

The Earl of Listowel: asked Her Majesty's Government:
	What is their response to the recommendation of the Howard League for Penal Reform, in its report Out for Good!, that all young offenders should have access to an advocate.

Baroness Scotland of Asthal: As part of our approach to communities and civil renewal, we are encouraging local people to volunteer their time to provide positive support for offenders, helping them to turn away from crime. The National Offender Management Service is developing a volunteering strategy to underpin this aim, and has commissioned a review of international evidence on the impact of mentoring in reducing re-offending. A young adult offender project will take account of any significant findings which result from these initiatives.